Chapter 3453: Sword Ancestor Doppelganger
Divine King Nie made a high-profile arrival, causing a stir throughout Rakshasa Divine City.
His boundless aura was overwhelming, gripping hearts and making the air feel several times heavier.
This was a Divine King, a king among true gods, one of the most ancient existences of the Rakshasa Clan. To cultivators in the Saint Realm, he was like a pillar holding up the sky, like a vast star river, standing at the pinnacle of all living beings.
Cultivators from various forces all gazed at the divine ship flying across the sky, filled with awe.
Many Rakshasa cultivators who worshipped "Divine King Nie" as their faith fell to their knees in droves.
Within the city.
Outside the first gate of the Divine Prison, near the Great Luo Divine Palace, a group of Rakshasa Divine Temple priests, led by High Priest Xinhe, stood in orderly formation, their expressions solemn and respectful, awaiting Divine King Nie's arrival.
Not every titled king or venerable was as approachable as Zhang Ruochen.
Facing a Divine King, even a Great God had to be cautious.
...
At Guizhuang.
True gods stood beneath a five-colored divine osmanthus tree, a hundred meters in diameter. The massive shadow cast by the divine ship on the ground swept over them.
Snow Sea Crown Prince watched the ship gradually receding into the sky and said, "Is Divine King Nie so confident? Does he think he can suppress the situation in the city with his own strength alone?"
Shang Xia said, "Your Highness, please make a decision quickly. Once Divine King Nie enters the Divine Prison, he will surely search Princess Luo Sha's soul. Then the 'Gui Cang' and the Tianyi Star Wheel will fall into the Divine Temple's hands. At that point, whoever becomes the future clan leader of the Rakshasa Clan will be up to them."
Shang Xia had fled to the Snow Sea Divine Kingdom, failing to see Snow Sea Emperor, but had encountered Snow Sea Crown Prince.
Thus, she returned to the Divine City with him.
Snow Sea Emperor was far away on the Starry Sky Battlefield and couldn't come, so Snow Sea Crown Prince became the chief representative of the Snow Sea Divine Kingdom in the city.
Snow Sea Crown Prince was no mediocrity; he had inherited his father's talent and had reached the Grand Void Realm at a young age.
He looked toward a blue divine halo beneath the divine osmanthus tree. At the center of the halo sat a handsome man in a dragon robe, appearing to be in his thirties, with no obvious aura emanating from him.
Yet he was the monarch of Yuegu Divine Kingdom, one of the seven great divine kingdoms of the Rakshasa Clan, and had chosen to support Snow Sea Emperor in the clan leader competition.
Snow Sea Crown Prince bowed to him and said, "Uncle, please issue the imperial decree. We gods of the Rakshasa Clan will surely unite to punish the traitors of the Ding Ancestor lineage and rescue Princess Luo Sha and the Divine Prince. The Great Emperor's body is not yet cold; we cannot harm his bloodline over an unsubstantiated accusation."
Yuegu Jun held a silver dagger, carving a piece of wood.
His technique was skilled, and wood shavings fell continuously.
He said casually, "Are you trying to rescue Princess Luo Sha and the Divine Prince, or seize the Tianyi Star Wheel and the 'Gui Cang'?"
Snow Sea Crown Prince said, "The two are not in conflict."
Yuegu Jun said, "But given the current situation in the Divine City, once war breaks out, the Rakshasa Clan will surely split, and the Divine City will turn to scorched earth. How many elite Rakshasa cultivators in the Saint Realm will become ashes under divine war?"
"Hesitation only leads to disaster," Snow Sea Crown Prince said.
Yuegu Jun stopped carving, his gaze deep and puzzled, looking toward the clan mansion's location. "Strange! Even at such a critical moment, the Zun Venerable has not fully activated the city's protective grand formation."
Snow Sea Crown Prince said, "The Zun Venerable won't interfere in this matter, and the Divine Temple won't truly go to war with us. As for the Ding Ancestor lineage, without a Boundless-level guardian, they are vulnerable. Uncle, what else is there to worry about?"
"No need to rush."
Shizhi Divine Venerable walked in from outside, his long hair hanging on either side of his face, streaks of lightning flowing beneath his feet. "Zhang Ruochen has arrived in Rakshasa Divine City. He will surely make the first move. We can sit back and watch the tigers fight from the mountain."
A murmur spread beneath the divine osmanthus tree as the gods whispered among themselves.
Shang Xia felt a secret joy.
She had never fully trusted the gods of the Snow Sea Divine Kingdom, believing they only cared about profit and not about Luo Sha or Luo Shengtian's lives. But with Zhang Ruochen's arrival, the situation would be vastly different.
In her heart, Luo Shengtian was a lover worth dying for, and Zhang Ruochen was a leader she could follow to the death. He was peerless and charismatic, yet also humane.
...
Although the situation in Rakshasa Divine City might be more dangerous than Wolf Ancestor had said, Zhang Ruochen could wait no longer.
Because he had no other choice.
"Swoosh!"
To Zhang Ruochen's right, a liquid spatial wall appeared.
A man in a silver-white divine robe stepped out of the spatial wall. He was tall, with a stiff expression and deep, mysterious eyes, looking exactly like Zhang Ruochen.
Wolf Ancestor looked at this doppelganger Zhang Ruochen had summoned, his heart tightening as he instinctively felt a sense of oppression.
It was as if this wasn't a doppelganger, but some extraordinary figure.
Zhang Ruochen had come to the Rakshasa Clan fully prepared.
This doppelganger before him was actually the skeleton of the Sword Ancestor.
The Sword Bone!
However, Zhang Ruochen had separated a large amount of his own divine blood and divine soul, covering the skeleton with flesh and blood.
That was why Wolf Ancestor thought it was his doppelganger.
Zhang Ruochen had always held great respect for the Sword Ancestor. After bowing deeply, he separated the sword soul and sword spirit from his body and merged them into the Sword Ancestor's skeleton.
With a soul, the Sword Ancestor doppelganger's eyes gradually brightened, and its aura became sharper.
It possessed both the Sword Ancestor's sharpness and spirit, and Zhang Ruochen's soul and temperament.
"Can this doppelganger be invincible in Rakshasa Divine City?" the Sword Ancestor doppelganger spoke, its voice identical to Zhang Ruochen's true body.
Wolf Ancestor made one final attempt to dissuade him. "You're trying to rescue a member of the Quantity Organization. If you force the rescue, you'll be exploited by those with ulterior motives, triggering a large-scale divine war. Then you'll become the Rakshasa Clan's sinner. You'll fall from the transcendent position of Heavenly Mother's Divine Envoy and become a target of everyone's hatred."
"You'll lose the entire Rakshasa Clan!"
"How can you lose something you never had?"
Zhang Ruochen's Sword Ancestor doppelganger was resolute. It leaped down from the Ghost Cloud Tower, landing gracefully on the ground, then transformed into a streak of bright flying sword light, heading straight for the Divine Prison.
Zhang Ruochen's true body said, "I need to go to Ding Ancestor Mountain. If a divine war breaks out there with such intensity that even the divine formation can't suppress it, it means I've encountered a terrifyingly powerful enemy. At that point, you must leave Rakshasa Divine City immediately!"
The situation in Rakshasa Divine City was so critical, yet the Zun Venerable hadn't fully activated the city's protective formation.
This could only mean that control of the formation wasn't in his hands.
It was on Ding Ancestor Mountain.
To rescue people, Zhang Ruochen had to go to Ding Ancestor Mountain and eliminate the final threat.
Dividing into two paths, each was indispensable.
"I'll go with you!"
After thinking it over, Bore considered that her cultivation level wasn't strong enough and feared she'd hold Zhang Ruochen back, so she added, "I'll wait outside to support you."
Wolf Ancestor said, "Don't go. I'll accompany him."
Zhang Ruochen showed a hint of surprise in his eyes.
Wolf Ancestor sighed. "Since I can't stop you, I'll have to be dragged into this and go crazy with you. Who else but you is the master of the Sword Realm? The Demon Wolf Clan will still need your protection in the future."
"Let's go. I also want to know what trump card Ding Ancestor left behind."
After Zhang Ruochen and Wolf Ancestor left, Bore began to think.
She felt she had to do something. If, after tonight, someone used public opinion to attack Zhang Ruochen, painting him as the Rakshasa Clan's sinner, then she would act in advance, laying the groundwork before the enemy, and perhaps steer public opinion in another direction.
For the Sword Realm to stand in the world, it absolutely could not lose the Rakshasa Clan's support.
No matter how tonight's situation developed, she had to prepare for the worst. Behind the scenes, she would help Zhang Ruochen set up a hidden move.
...
Divine King Nie's arrival prompted High Priest Xinhe and other Rakshasa Divine Temple deities to go out and greet him together.
Seizing the opportunity, Xuyin Great God immediately charged through the second prison gate, heading toward the deep prison underground.
"Greetings, Great God!"
In the dim corridor, the Rakshasa soldiers guarding the deep prison knelt on one knee to pay their respects.
"Open the divine formation of the third prison gate and take me to see Princess Luo Sha!"
Xuyin Great God's voice contained soul-capturing power.
A soldier at the Great Saint realm stood up dazedly, traced secret patterns on the stone wall with his finger, and activated the divine formation. The third prison gate opened!
Soon, Xuyin Great God reached the deepest level of the prison, where he saw Luo Sha and Luo Shengtian.
Although they were bound with divine chains, their treatment was better than before; they were no longer pinned down by Soul-Locking Needles.
Seeing them unharmed, Xuyin Great God breathed a secret sigh of relief. He then ordered the Great Saint to open the divine formation of this cell.
Unfortunately, that Great Saint was also visiting for the first time and didn't know how to open the sealing divine formation here.
Just as Xuyin Great God placed his palm on the prison door, preparing to analyze the formation, a cold voice sounded behind him. "What are you doing?"
Xuyin Great God lowered his hand and turned to look at Lingquan Great God, who stood several zhang away.
Behind Lingquan Great God, two divine generals in black armor were escorting a barely alive Shang Yue. There were five bloody holes on Shang Yue's head, clearly indicating she had just been soul-searched.
Xuyin Great God dispensed with pretense. "There is no solid evidence proving Princess Luo Sha and the Divine Prince are members of the Quantity Organization, yet you treat them so cruelly, gouging out the Divine Prince's innate divine eye and soul-searching the princess. Do you know what the consequences will be when Zun Venerable Feng and the others learn of this?"
"Is this an overflow of sympathy? Trying to save the suffering? You're not a Buddhist; you're a Rakshasa!" Lingquan Great God stepped forward, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
He naturally didn't take Xuyin Great God seriously.
Just a Great God at the Taiyi Realm peak!
Shang Yue's memories had been partially altered by Zhang Ruochen, so Lingquan Great God's soul search yielded no useful information.
Luo Sha had already noticed the commotion outside, surprised that Xuyin Great God had betrayed Ding Ancestor.
Or was this a performance between Xuyin and Lingquan?
Trying to gain her trust through another method?
On the corridor, Lingquan Great God pressed forward, the divine rule patterns emanating from his body growing denser, forming a dazzling tricolor divine light of red, purple, and blue.
"Since you're so ungrateful, I'll devour your flesh and blood to advance my cultivation further!"
Lingquan Great God's face twisted ferociously. The divine rule patterns condensed into countless chains, weaving into a tricolor heavenly net that enveloped Xuyin Great God.
"Swoosh!"
From within Xuyin Great God's body surged Purple Calamity Divine Thunder, tearing the incoming rule net to shreds.
The powerful divine force clashed in the narrow corridor, activating all the formations on the prison walls.
The ground shook violently.
Lingquan Great God blocked most of the Purple Calamity Divine Thunder, but the two divine generals behind him turned to charcoal and were blasted away, disintegrating into black dust midair.
Shang Yue was also sent flying by the thunder, but a "Jade Tree Ink Moon" mark on her chest emerged, shielding her within moonlight.
Lingquan Great God staggered back several steps, steadying himself to look.
From behind Xuyin Great God emerged Quanzhongsheng, clad in a purple robe.
Also at the Grand Void peak, also having lived for hundreds of thousands of years, how could Lingquan Great God not recognize Quanzhongsheng?
"How is it you?" Lingquan Great God said.
"Surprised?"
Blood Butcher stepped out from Xuyin Great God's divine realm world, smiling as he looked over, then toward Luo Sha in the deep prison. "Senior Sister-in-law, Senior Brother sent us to rescue you. He'll be here soon. Anyone who bullied you—people, dogs, cats, whatever—they all have to die. Their blood belongs to me, Blood Butcher."
"I'll analyze the formation first. Leave Lingquan Great God to you!"
Xuyin Great God placed both hands on the prison door, and instantly, countless formation inscriptions emerged, like hundreds of millions of glowing tadpoles swimming.
Luo Sha stood up, a beautiful, joyful smile spreading across her face. All her doubts vanished.
Lingquan Great God was not flustered. He laughed loudly. "You overestimate yourselves. Do you think the Divine Prison is so easy to breach? The formations here are enough to bury you all without a grave."
With a thought from Lingquan Great God, the formations on all sides of the corridor activated, releasing devastating power.
Blood Butcher took out a hollow golden ball and twisted it open.
"Boom!"
A billion-fold spatial gravity erupted, radiating in all directions.
Caught off guard, Lingquan Great God's legs trembled, and he nearly collapsed under the spatial pressure.
Beside him came a loud "boom."
Xuyin Great God, who had been analyzing the formation, was genuinely crushed to his knees, his knees sinking into the ground.
"Sorry, sorry! This Blunt Space Stone Senior Brother gave me—I'm using it for the first time. Didn't control it well." Blood Butcher chuckled, full of embarrassment.